Eric Schmidt to cash in half of his shares in Google for $2.51 billion

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt is planning to sell nearly half of his shares in the company he helped turn into a household name according to documents recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Schmidt will cash in roughly 3.2 million of his 7.6 million Class A shares which will send $2.51 billion his way.

Schmidt’s 7.6 million stake equates to roughly 2.3 percent ownership of Google and about 8.2 percent of the company’s voting power.

We are told that he has the option to spread the sale out over the course of the year in order to reduce the impact that it might have on the market. He is expected to make the first trade within the next month.

This won’t be the executive’s first big stock payday. Back in February 2012, he cashed in 2.4 million shares that were worth more than $1.5 billion at the time. Schmidt was able to amass a great deal of shares during his time as CEO of the company. During that stint, he was paid only $1 per year but received shares for his duties. When Larry Page replaced him in April 2011, Google upped his annual salary to $1.25 million.

Forbes estimated Schmidt’s net worth to be $7.5 billion last September. Even after he sells off 46 percent of his holdings, he still has enough stock to be a billionaire multiple times over.